This patent is directed generally to a parts separator for use with a centrifugal separator, and, more particularly, to a parts separator having a magnetic separator disposed within the parts separator.
In the course of machining operations, scrap materials are generated. These scrap materials may be generally referred to as wet chips or wet chip material, which material includes a solid component and a fluid (lubricant) component. This scrap may be in the form of relatively small wet chips, also referred to as granular wet chips, stringy pieces of wet chips and bales of wet chip material.
Conventionally, wet chip materials are conveyed from one or more machine stations to a centrifugal separator station where the wet chip material is centrifugally separated into dry chips and fluid. This is done so that the dry chips may be reclaimed, and the fluid reclaimed or sent for disposal.
However, the material produced as a consequence of the machining operations may not be of homogenous metallurgical composition. That is, it is known to make castings that include a first component made of aluminum and a second component made of iron, for example. In one particular example, an iron cylinder sleeve may be cast into an aluminum engine block. When the engine block is machined, the wet chip material may be substantially aluminum, but it will also include a ferrous component.
The conventional process has been to separate the lubricant from the wet chips, and then process the wet chips to remove the ferrous contamination. The removal of the iron from the aluminum is particularly complicated by the fact that the amount of ferrous material might be an extremely small faction of the dried chip material collected from the centrifugal separator station. As a result, the type of magnetic separation equipment required to process the collected can be bulky and expensive, and the process is time consuming.